As soon as I woke up this morning I jumped onto my laptop to tackle some final admin work before heading to the gym. 

Today’s challenge was to complete 500 push-ups in addition to the 500 kettlebell swings. Well, I wasn’t able to accomplish that many but I was able to complete 250 push-ups along with 500 swings. 

Instead of doing 25-25-50 rep sets, I did rounds of 25-25-25-25 reps. In between each set of 25 reps I performed between 10-25 push-ups. 

Near the end of it my arms were like jello, my left shoulder was shot and my right wrist was throbbing with soreness. But, I had still accomplished 250 push-ups which was way more than I even thought I’d be able to do. 

My left shoulder would be cranky for the rest of the day, constantly clicking as I rotated it. Even though I used my foam roller when I first got home I ended up using my lacrosse ball before leaving for the airport which seemed to do the trick. 

Not one to be beat, my buddy and his trainer accomplished all 500 push-ups in the same amount of time that it took me to complete the 250. 

The rest of the day was busy between trying to close out the year and getting ready to head off to the airport. 

We decided to drive up to San Francisco early so that we could grab dinner near the airport. From there we streamed the NYC ball drop on my phone since it was being time-delayed on the West coast. 

After watching the ball drop we reflected on the past 16 months. The last time that Laura had been at the restaurant we had dinner at tonight was when her and her mom were waiting for my father-in-law to arrive on the day that I had my brain surgery.  

She pointed out the exact booth that they had sat in and we talked through that weekend as well as the 12 days that we were in the first hospital for my shoulders. 

I am fortunate to have such a wonderful wife who has stuck by my side through the seizures, shoulder surgeries and rehab, brain surgery and the past year of being on chemo. 

We have also been blessed by amazing family, friends and colleagues who have supported us every step of the way. 

We're hoping that we’re able to see some fireworks as we climb above 10,000 feet. After the first few minutes of the flight, though, neither of us plan on being awake. We’re not usually awake past 10-10:30p so even making it to 11:55p will be a lot. 

I’m looking forward to a fun weekend being back in CT with our family for the number of celebrations that will be going on. 

As we get ready to board our flight, I wish everyone a safe and joyous 2016.